LOS ANGELES — By calling a halt to the deportation of hundreds of thousands of young people who are here illegally, President Barack Obama not only helps himself politically with two groups vital to his re-election — Latinos and young people — but also shows the advantage that comes with the White House.

So long as the economy struggles and joblessness stays persistently high, another four years will remain an iffy proposition for the Democratic incumbent.

But Obama’s executive order on immigration speaks to constituencies that could potentially swing a half-dozen or so critical states in November.

Appearing in the Rose Garden, Obama announced Friday that, effective immediately, immigrants who arrived in the U.S. illegally before age 16 and spent at least five continuous years here would be allowed to apply for work permits so long as they had no criminal history and met other criteria.

Democrats who have been urging the president to do more with his presidential powers were delighted.

“Most Americans would think it’s cruel and insane to punish innocent children for the mistakes of their parents,” said Craig Varoga, a party strategist who dared opponents to “punch back” at Obama and show “they have no compassion.”

The former Massachusetts governor alienated many Latinos with the uncompromising immigration stance he took during the primaries, which helped him fend off rivals to his right. Now, however, he must win back many of those disenchanted Latino voters and assuage others, or his hopes for the White House are likely — to use the candidate’s word — doomed.

In a sign of the challenge he faces, Romney offered no comment for several hours after Obama’s announcement, finally delivering a statement that straddled the issue by citing a need to resolve the status of innocent young people facing deportation but without saying how. Instead, Romney blamed Obama for making a solution more difficult.

On Sunday, Romney was asked three times in an interview on CBS’ Face the Nation whether he would overturn the executive order issued Friday if he’s elected in the fall. He refused to directly answer.

“It would be overtaken by events,” Romney said when pressed for the second time by moderator Bob Schieffer during the interview taped Saturday while the candidate’s bus tour stopped in Pennsylvania.

He said the order would become irrelevant “by virtue of my putting in place a long-term solution, with legislation which creates law that relates to these individuals such that they know what their setting is going to be, not just for the term of a president but on a permanent basis.”

Rubio’s take

Several of the GOP’s most prominent anti-illegal immigration activists reacted angrily Friday to Obama’s announcement, a contrast with Romney’s more measured response.

But U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida, the son of Cuban immigrants and a much-talked-about vice presidential prospect for Romney, offered qualified support. He is formulating a measure that would legalize the status of some young people who are in the country illegally without offering the route to citizenship contained in the immigration bill voted down by lawmakers.

“Today’s announcement will be welcome news for many of these kids desperate for an answer,” Rubio said, though he criticized it as “a short-term answer to a long-term problem” — the argument that Romney later took up.